As Respect for Marriage Act Passes Senate, Religious Groups (Even Mormons) Support it — But Not U.S. Catholic Bishops

PRRI, "New Survey Shows Strong Support for LGBTQ Rights Championed in the Equality Act"

As the Respect for Marriage Act gained Senate confirmation, Shawna Chen wrote ("Over 20 religious groups call on Senate to codify same-sex marriage") about the more than twenty religious groups that urged the Senate to protect same-sex and interracial marriages. Chen ended her report by stating, 

Commentary on Respect for Marriage Act and How Religious Groups — Notably, U.S. Catholic Bishops — Are Dealing with This Issue

PRRI, "Support for Nondiscrimination Protections for LGBTQ People, by Religious Affiliation, 2015-2021"

An offering of interrelated articles commenting on the Senate vote to advance the Respect for Marriage Act and how religious groups — notably, the U.S. Catholic bishops — are dealing with this issue:

"As the Nation Grapples with Demographic Changes and the Legacy of Racism, Christianity's Role as a Cornerstone of White Supremacy Has Been Largely Overlooked"

Germany confronted its racist legacy. Britain and the US must do the same | Susan Neiman https://t.co/VrmrtGM2x2

We cannot have a just and decent present as long as we refuse to face our pasts.

— 𝕎𝕚𝕝𝕝𝕚𝕒𝕞 𝔻. 𝕃𝕚𝕟𝕕𝕤𝕖𝕪 🌈 (@wdlindsy) June 14, 2020

Tara Westover's Educated: "What my father wanted to cast from me wasn't a demon: it was me."

Having finished reading Tara Westover's Educated several weeks ago, I've been thinking about what I'd like to say as a concluding statement about it. I've blogged about Educated previously — here and here — noting that Westover grew up in a survivalist Mormon family in Idaho. Educated recounts the story of her attempt over the course of years to emerge from the prison in which her upbringing put her. It tells us about her father's wild delusions of grandeur, his belief that he was directly guided by God and watched over by angels — and of his danger-courting and relentless attempts to control his daughter with threats of damnation when she sought to move beyond his control.

Connections: UMC Hardening vs. Queer People to Catholic School Barring Child of Gay Couple to Failure of Utah Bill Outlawing "Conversion" Therapy to "Pro-Life" Administration Caging Children

I offer you today these selections from items I have been reading lately, because — to my way of thinking, and I am hoping you'll agree — there's a common theme here. These stories interlink:

Tara Westover's Educated: Questions re: the Anti-Government, Anti-Schools, Anti-Science, Anti-Medicine Lifestyle of Many Americans Today

Sorry to have been silent the past week. As I mentioned previously, I have had an onerous textual revision process on my hands, and I was also asked last week to do a media event on behalf of SNAP, which is calling on the Catholic bishop of Little Rock to explain why several names of credibly accused priests on other lists have been left off his diocesan list of credibly accused priests with ties to Arkansas, and to add those names to his list.

Recommended Commentary: "There Will Be Lots of Singing, Preaching, Praying, and Hand Holding. Meanwhile, Victims of Sacralized Bigotry and Discrimination Will Be Ignored"

Nine people of faith sit in jail tonight for praying on the steps of the #SupremeCourt. This from the same court that ruled in favor of the religious beliefs of a Colorado baker who refused to serve a gay couple. We must not let this hypocrisy stand! pic.twitter.com/n9qoqYNesQ

— Rev. Dr. Barber (@RevDrBarber) June 12, 2018

Some valuable commentary I've read in the past several days about matters of religion, culture, and politics that I'd like to pass on to you — ranging from commentary about the current meetings of the Southern Baptist Convention and Cooperative Baptist Fellowship to the sexual abuse problems facing the SBC; right-wing Catholic lobbying against contraceptive availability for women in developing nations; new indicators of how deeply racism is entrenched in Mormon culture; and the role that conservative white Christians are playing in blocking ecological initiatives in the U.S. government:

The Roseanne Débacle: Time to Talk About Roseanne's Roots in Salt Lake City and Mormon Culture?

Literally all that Roseanne had to do was NOT call a black woman a monkey and she... just.... couldn't 😂😂

White supremacy is a hell of a drug.

— Ijeoma Oluo (@IjeomaOluo) May 29, 2018

In the News: "Religious Freedom" and "Right" to Discriminate; Roots of Evangelicals' Idolization of Trump; Shifting Religious Landscape re: LGBT Rights; SBC and Misogyny

Religion-themed news from the past several days that has caught my eye, and which I'd like to share with you:

Russian Propaganda, Critical-Thinking Skills, and How the Christian Right Broke America: Valuable Recent Contributions to the Discussion

Without the education necessary to think critically, challenge what you’re told by ppl you respect, & vet info, you can fall for anything

— Mandy Nicole (@TenaciousMandy) November 1, 2017

"Many Sides Didn't Do This": Sunday Meditation Points about America on Display Yesterday in Charlottesville

“Many sides” didn’t do this. pic.twitter.com/4zJFyxzb1J

— Jamil Smith (@JamilSmith) August 12, 2017

Trump's Threat of Fire and Fury: Twitter Responds

We were warned! pic.twitter.com/SE50GvI0gC

— Amy Siskind (@Amy_Siskind) August 9, 2017

The "Debate" About Transgender People: Don't Buy Framing That It's About Gender

THREAD: 1. Those pushing anti-trans discrimination with religious warrants would like you to think this is all about gender.

— Bill Lindsey (@wdlindsy) July 27, 2017

As Easter Approaches, World Is Closer to Nuclear Destruction Due to the Choice of "Pro-Life" White Christians in U.S. in 2016 Elections

The world is closer to nuclear destruction now due to the choice of "pro-life" white Christians in the U.S. in the 2016 elections. 1)

— Bill Lindsey (@wdlindsy) April 15, 2017

"A Hard Core of Those Enthralled by Trump Cannot Be Convinced Otherwise": America's "Triumph of the Will" Moment

John Feffer, "The Trump Dystopian Nightmare: Nuclear War, Climate Change and a Clash of Civilizations Are All on the Horizon":

"The Abdication of Civil (and Gospel) Responsibility by White Churches Is to a Great Degree Responsible for Trump": Twitter Commentary

Bottom line: we would not be where we are, the Trump nightmare as 24 million face loss of healthcare, without white "pro-life" Christians 1)

— Bill Lindsey (@wdlindsy) March 14, 2017

Trumpcare, Some Questions You Might Ask: Will the "Pro-Life" Catholic Bishops Provide Access to Healthcare for Millions Who Lose Coverage?

True headline 1: the bill is basically a tax cut ($600 billion) funded by gutting Medicaid. 4

— Andy Slavitt (@ASlavitt) March 7, 2017

To borrow shamelessly from the title of a Mary Oliver poem, some questions you (and I) might ask now that the horror show of the Trumpcare "replacement" plan for the Affordable Care Act has been unveiled:

Donald Trump and U.S. Christians, Three Perspectives: "There Is a Sickness in American Christianity, and Trump Is Feeding on It"

4 in 5 white evangelicals, 3 in 5 white Catholics and Mormons — "pro-life" voters — brought us the Trump nightmare.

I will not forget.

— Bill Lindsey (@wdlindsy) December 15, 2016

Commentator William Saletan, a self-styled "liberal Republican," writes, "There is a sickness in American Christianity, and Trump is feeding on it."

"A Conscience That Is Not Awake to Suffering and Fails to Respond Is Walled Off from the Love of God": Commentary on Trump and Religious Issues

With his performance at yesterday's National Prayer Breakfast (an event organized by the shadowy anti-LGBT group calling itself "The Family," as David Badash reminds us), and with the Supreme Court nomination of Neil Gorsuch, Trump and religious matters are in the news. Here's commentary in the past few days I'd like to recommend:

"Life Is Winning Again in America": Executive Order Banning Muslim Refugees on Holocaust Remembrance Day, As Pro-Life Christians Celebrate

Now banned from entering the U.S. --> pic.twitter.com/dsvsrvhC5O

— Matt Pearce (@mattdpearce) January 28, 2017

Willa Frej and Elise Foley, "Trump Targets Muslims, Refugees in New Executive Order Issued on Holocaust Remembrance Day":

"We don’t want them here," he said.